soul

1 [countable]the spiritual part of a person, believed to exist after deathHe believed his immortal soul was in peril.The howling wind sounded like the wailing of lost souls (= the spirits of dead people who are not in heaven).CollocationsReligionBeing religiousbelieve in God/​Christ/​Allah/​free will/​predestination/​heaven and hell/​an afterlife/​reincarnationbe/​become a believer/​an atheist/​an agnostic/​a Christian/​Muslim/​Hindu/​Buddhist, etc.convert to/​practise/(especially US English)practice a religion/​Buddhism/​Catholicism/​Christianity/​Islam/​Judaism, etc.go to church/(North American English) temple (= the synagogue)go to the local church/​mosque/​synagogue/​gurdwarabelong to a church/​a religious communityjoin/​enter the church/​a convent/​a monastery/​a religious sect/​the clergy/​the priesthoodpraise/​worship/​obey/​serve/​glorify GodCelebrations and ritualattend/​hold/​conduct/​lead a serviceperform a ceremony/​a rite/​a ritual/​a baptism/​the Hajj/​a mitzvahcarry out/​perform a sacred/​burial/​funeral/​fertility/​purification ritego on/​make a pilgrimagecelebrate Christmas/​Easter/​Eid/​Ramadan/​Hanukkah/​Passover/​Diwaliobserve/​break the Sabbath/​a fast/​Ramadandeliver/​preach/​hear a sermonlead/​address the congregationsay/​recite a prayer/​blessingReligious texts and ideaspreach/​proclaim/​spread the word of God/​the Gospel/​the message of Islamstudy/​follow the dharma/​the teachings of Buddharead/​study/​understand/​interpret scripture/​the Bible/​the Koran/​the gospel/​the Torahbe based on/​derive from divine revelationcommit/​consider something heresy/​sacrilegeReligious belief and experienceseek/​find/​gain enlightenment/​wisdomstrengthen/​lose your faithkeep/​practise/​practice/​abandon the faithsave/​purify/​lose your soulobey/​follow/​keep/​break/​violate a commandment/​Islamic law/​Jewish lawbe/​accept/​do God’s willreceive/​experience divine graceachieve/​attain enlightenment/​salvation/​nirvanaundergo a conversion/​rebirth/​reincarnationhear/​answer a prayercommit/​confess/​forgive a sindo/​perform penance

inner character

2 [countable]a person’s inner character, containing their true thoughts and feelingsThere was a feeling of restlessness deep in her soul.

spiritual/moral/artistic qualities

3 [singular]the spiritual and moral qualities of humans in generalsynonympsychethe dark side of the human soul

4[uncountable,countable]strong and good human feeling, especially that gives a work of art its quality or enables somebody to recognize and enjoy that qualityIt was a very polished performance, but it lacked soul.

5[singular]the soul of somethinga perfect example of a good qualityHe is the soul of discretion.

person

6[countable](becoming old-fashioned)a person of a particular typeShe's lost all her money, poor soul.You're a brave soul.

7[countable](especially in negative sentences)a personThere wasn't a soul in sight (= nobody was in sight).Don't tell a soul (= do not tell anyone).(literary)a village of 300 souls (= with 300 people living there)

music

8(alsosoul music)[uncountable]a type of music that expresses strong emotions, made popular by African American musiciansa soul singerCultureSoul music developed out of gospel music and rhythm and blues in the 1950s and 1960s. The most famous form of soul music was Motown. Well-known soul singers include James Brown, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Roberta Flack and Stevie Wonder.See related entries:Styles of music

Word OriginOld Englishsāwol, sāw(e)l, of Germanic origin; related to Dutchziel and GermanSeele.Extra examplesBy midnight, there wasn’t a soul in sight.Deep in her soul she knew she had to return to her country.God rest his soul.He bared his soul to her.He gave himself heart and soul to the cause.He let out an anguished cry from the depths of his soul.I don’t know a single soul in this town.I searched my soul for any malice that could have provoked his words, but found none.I will not tell a soul about this.In the process of being made into a film, the story seemed to have lost its soul.Laughter is good for the soul.May God have mercy on my soul.Missionaries saw it as their task to save souls.She gave herself to him body and soul.She sang the song with passion and soul.She was a part of his soul.The dog was howling like a soul in torment.The messenger god, Hermes, leads dead souls into the underworld.The plea touched him to his very soul.There was no other living soul to be seen.They recognized each other as kindred souls.a battle for the soul of the countrya kind old soulan argument for the immortality of the soulpoor little soulto sell your soul to the DevilA few brave souls queued all night to get tickets for centre court.His poetry deals with the dark side of the human soul.I won’t tell a soul.It means bad news for some poor soul.She’s completely exhausted, poor soul!The howling wind sounded like the wailing of lost souls.There was not a soul about/​in sight/​to be seen.You mustn’t tell a living soul what I just told you.Idioms